Letter from the Mekong: A more-than-virtual-reality adventure
So there we were, sitting back in the longtail boat, enjoying the cool breeze in our hair and preparing to enjoy the cruise on the Mekong.The camera equipment which would shoot the Virtual Reality footage had been set up – six GoPros mounted on a rig which Morris Sim (CEO of Brand Karma) had tied [...]
Letter from Kuching: Excuse me, do you want my hot spot?
I’ve just returned from Kuching where we ran a Digital Marketing Bootcamp for the travel trade. The objective was to basically arm industry players with information and knowledge of how to make their business, and their destination, easily discoverable in the digital world.If you’ve been to Kuch [...]
The making of Cempedak Island and the bamboo that went missing for a month
Writing about clicks all the time, it makes a nice change to write about bricks or, in this case, bamboo.Just caught up with Andrew Dixon, the former banker-turned-hotelier of Nikoi Island fame, who's right in the throes of building his latest resort, Cempedak, on an Indonesian island he bought more [...]
The value of authenticity in storytelling and travel
A little over a year ago, I went to Peru. On my list was a visit to Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake. Getting there involves a half-day-long drive from Cusco – made longer by drag in the dirt roads and the ocasional llama crossing.On the shores of the lake is the city of Puno, c [...]
Letter from Bangkok: Same, same but different
It seemed not much had changed in Bangkok. The day I arrived, it had been raining – which can only mean one thing. Bad traffic.After an hour into the ride from airport to hotel, I asked the driver how much longer we had and he said, “One more hour.”“What!” I exclaimed – a typical respo [...]
How to go beyond being a “digital vampire”: Take some tips from The Who’s Townshend
In his John Peel Lecture of 2011, Pete Townshend of The Who called iTunes a “digital vampire”, saying it was bleeding artists with its enormous 30% commission.He then went on to give some tips as to how iTunes could create a better world for all – unearth new, good music through editorial guid [...]
Bangkok bomb: In times of crises, no knee-jerk decisions please
“Our customers may make knee-jerk reactions because they have a right to. We shouldn't because we have a responsibility not to.” I wanted to wait a couple of days before I wrote about the horrific bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok – to digest, to talk to people, to think about it – [...]
If you want to win in Asia, don’t do it by remote control
Picture this. We are sitting in Skyscanner’s offices. It’s our first SkyChat Evening – intimate events where we feature longform conversations with smart people who are in town.On the couch with me is Fritz Demopoulos, co-founder of Qunar and now CEO, Queen’s Road Capital.Just that week, I [...]
Skyscanner’s Williams: “To win, we have to win in Asia”
Gareth Williams, CEO and co-founder of Skyscanner, on what it will take to win big in Asia, his ambitions for the company he co-founded in 2001 and why he won’t give his AI project a girl name.CEO and one of the three co-founders of Skyscanner, Gareth Williams, is spending more time in Singapore t [...]
Letter from Saigon: Big, young, social and mobile, powered by women
One evening in Saigon, after a lovely dinner at a rooftop garden, we stopped on a sidewalk to have a brief chat about where to go next. Ice cream? Beer? Wine? The choices are endless. Suddenly, a bunch of taxis just stopped by us, the drivers looking at us in anticipation for a ride.Simon Christy, f [...]
